Lovie's Legacy: Can Texans Overcome 'What Could've Been' to Salvage NFL Draft?
Lovie Smith's full record as the head coach of the Houston Texans is 3-13-1.
But the deposed boss of the woeful 2022 edition of the team owns another more condensed and more damning record: 1-0.
That's Smith's record from Week 18 of last season, the thrillingly maddening 32-31 come-from-behind victory over the Colts marking a football disaster for the franchise. ...
And now we are seeing the two-pronged result of Lovie's Legacy.
The inability to skillfully "tank'' allowed the Chicago Bears to leapfrog the Texans for the top pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
"So what?'' Lovie essentially said at the time.
Well, Coach, here's "so what'' ... in two distasteful bites:
1. On Friday, the Carolina Panthers traded up to the Bears for the No. 1 pick. The Bears weren't going to draft a QB. The Panthers will do so.
The means the Texans will not have their choice of quarterbacks in this year’s class. GM Nick Caserio and new coach DeMeco Ryans will still get a great prospect, of course. But the best of the QBs in this NFL Draft include Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Will Levis and Anthony Richardson - could've all been within the Texans' reach. But alas ... no more.
For no good reason, Houston will not get the greatest prospect, as should've been the case.
2. While Carolina now controls its fate in the No. 1 spot, it's the Bears who just took charge of a good part of the next two NFL Drafts. Why? Look at their haul here: Two first-rounders (with this year's marking a simple slide-down from No. 1 to No. 9), two second-rounders and a star-quality receiver in DJ Moore.
Had the Texans owned the No. 1 pick and flipped it to Carolina, Houston would have in its war chest the No. 9 pick (which in theory might still be a QB), plus its own No. 12, plus a pair of 2's, and then next year, a pair of 1's and a pair of 2's ... plus Moore, who would step in as a top guy in Houston.
Draft a QB at No. 9? Maybe. Or sign QB Jimmy Garoppolo in free agency and use the picks to build around him? Either way, moving up one slot would've marked a sea change in Houston's roster-building efforts.
One more wrinkle: What if the Panthers call the Texans and offer Houston a chance to move up to No. 1 to get their pinpointed QB? In terms of the on-paper transaction - as long as Carolina is satisfied with the QB taken at No. 2 - the Texans would lose ...
Again.
Houston is examining all of these concepts; as Caserio recently said, "We’re positioned here: 'What would it cost to move up one spot?' We’re at 12. 'What would it cost to move up a few spots? What would it cost to move back?' We’ll look at all those.''
The Texans can look. And they can win. But they cannot win as big as would be the case had they simply ... lost. One more time.
Smith has done some terrific things in the football world. But hauntingly in Houston, this boondoggle may forever be Lovie's Legacy.
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